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{{Short description|Dating app based in New York City}}

[[File:You got cheek'd!.jpg|thumb|Cheekd card]]'''Cheekd''' is a dating and social networking website based in [[New York City]]. It was founded in 2010 by Lori Cheek.

[[File:You got cheek'd!.jpg|300px|thumb|Cheekd card]]

'''Cheekd''' is a [[dating app]] based in [[New York City]]. It was founded in 2010 by Lori Cheek.<ref>[http://honoluluweekly.com/city-wise/2010/08/getting-cheeky/ "Getting cheeky" - Honolulu Weekly]</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Online-Dating: Visitenkarten für die Liebe (Business Cards for Love)|url=http://www.zeit.de/lebensart/partnerschaft/2010-08/dating-cards-flirten|newspaper=Die Zeit|date=4 August 2010 |access-date=22 May 2018|language=de}}</ref>

==History==

The service debuted with the name "Cheek'd". Founder Lori Cheek is a former architect. She appeared on the television program, [[Shark Tank]] in February 2014, but did not succeed in obtaining funding from any of the five entrepreneur/investors to whom she pitched Cheek'd to on the showjudges. She said that sheCheek’d only had 1000 subscribers to her service at that time.<ref name="shark" />

===Business card model===

Cheek'd offered two user plans, paid and free. For $25, subscribers got a set of 50 [[business cards]] that could be given out once someone caught their eye.<ref name=trends>{{cite news |author= |coauthors= |title=Latest dating trends include Web-based calling cards and GPS-powered apps|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/latest-dating-trends-include-web-based-calling-cards-gps-powered-apps-article-1.202481 |work=[[New York Daily News]] |date=July 23, 2010 |accessdateaccess-date=2010-08-15 | first=Paulina | last=Reso}}</ref> Each card had a phrase, an online code, and a URL to the subscriber's account at the website.<ref name=trends/><ref name=architect>{{cite news |title=The New Dating Tools: A Card and a Wink |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/fashion/22date.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 21, 2010 |accessdateaccess-date=2010-07-23 }}</ref> Recipients of the cards could then look up the giver's profile of the user with the information provided on the card.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jenny Block |title=Fox on Sex: The Art of Flirting|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,598671,00.html|accessdateaccess-date=2010-08-14|publisher=Fox News|date=August 5, 2010}}</ref> In addition to the one-time cost of thepurchasing cards, there was a $9.95 monthly membership fee.<ref name="shark">{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Jordyn|title=Tech CEO Loses on ‘Shark'Shark Tank’Tank', Is Visited by On-Set Therapist|url=http://observer.com/2014/03/tech-ceo-loses-on-shark-tank-is-visited-by-on-set-therapist/|website=Observer|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=3 March 2014}}</ref>

If users chose the free plan, they did not pay a monthly subscription fee nor did they buy business cards. Instead, they would download the Cheekd app for free, and hand out virtual cards to any appealing strangers that were nearby.<ref name="shark" />

===Smartphone app===

In 2015, the service's name changed from the original "Cheek'd" to "Cheekd". The new app usesused Bluetooth technology to send alerts toalert users whenever a compatible user iswas within a 30-foot radius, instead of using business cards.<ref name="observer">{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Jordyn|title=After Brutal ‘Shark'Shark Tank’Tank' Rejection, Tech CEO Reinvents Her Dating Business|url=http://observer.com/2015/02/after-brutal-shark-tank-rejection-tech-ceo-reinvents-her-dating-business/|website=Observer|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=25 February 2015}}</ref>

==Patent lawsuit==

The original business card-based model for Cheekd had been claimed as a patented process by Lori Cheek, as [[{{US Patent |8543465]]. It was described as “Online Dating in Reverse”}}. In September 2017, a complaint was filed, alleging that the idea was not original to Lori Cheek.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Crouch|first1=Dennis|title=Reversing the Patent on Reverse Online Dating |url=https://patentlyo.com/patent/2017/09/reversing-patent-reverse.html|website=Patently-O|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=29 September 2017}}</ref>

Cheek responded, stating that the complaint was baseless, and a complete fabrication.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Crouch |first1=Dennis |title=Cheek Responds: The Whole Story|url=https://patentlyo.com/patent/2017/10/cheek-responds-whole.html|website=Patently-O|accessdateaccess-date=22 May 2018|date=4 October 2017}}</ref> The lawsuit ''Pirri v. Cheek'' was dismissed in a pre-trial conference in New York's Federal Court on April 5, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Conner|first1=Cheryl|title=PR Warfare: When An Enemy Targets Your Firm In The Press|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2018/05/15/pr-warfare-when-an-enemy-targets-your-firm-in-the-press/#55b303085fc9|website=Forbes|accessdateaccess-date=23 May 2018|language=en|date=15 May 2018}}</ref>

==References==